FBI reports many cybercrimes strike deep in the heart of Texans

Everyone knows that everything is bigger in Texas, even online crime.

The Lone Star State had the second-highest number of victims of internet crimes last year, according to an FBI report released this week. Texans filed roughly 21,000 complaints and reported losing about $77.1 million to internet criminals last year, the fourth-biggest reported loss, according to the report.

Many filed complaints over what the FBI calls “confidence fraud” or “romance fraud.” That’s when cybercriminals use the promise of love or friendship to gain their victims’ trust.

Romance schemes cost consumers more than $219.8 million last year.

“An individual believes they are in a relationship (family, friendly, or romantic) and are tricked into sending money, personal and financial information, or items of value to the perpetrator or to launder money or items to assist the perpetrator,” is how the report describes the scheme.

In this type of fraud, “the perpetrator preys on the complainant’s ‘heartstrings,’” it said.

Cybercriminals used a variety of methods to rip off consumers and businesses in Texas, including the stealing or leaking of personal data, internet scams and corporate data breaches, according to the FBI’s annual Internet Crime Complaint Center report.

Of U.S. states and territories, only California had more reported victims of internet crimes than Texas, according to the report.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 300,000 total complaints with $1.3 billion in losses last year.

People can file a complaint if they are in the U.S., or are complaining about a business or person in the U.S.

The most expensive crime was convincing consumers to transfer funds or give away other sensitive information via email, and it cost victims $360 million last year, according to the report.

Ransomware, which is when a hacker essentially hijacks a computer or its data until a ransom is paid, was also a problem. The FBI said it received more than 2,000 ransomware complaints last year.

Losses due to ransomware attacks hit $2.4 million last year.

Malware is a hot topic after the highly publicized WannaCry ransomware attack in May infected more than 300,000 computers worldwide.

Victims in Texas reported losing $220,190 last year to ransomware, according to the report.

Data breaches were also a costly problem in Texas.

More than 2,000 personal data breaches, with total losses exceeding $4.7 million, were reported in the state, and 259 corporate data breaches were reported, with losses totaling more than $4.5 million, according to the report.